Continuity and the Second Vatican Council

Vatican II did not reinvent the Church but instead was rooted in sacred tradition

by Supreme Chaplain Bishop William E. Lori

IN OCTOBER 2012, the Church
will observe the 50th anniversary of
the opening of the Second Vatican
Council. Like any anniversary, this is
a time to both look back and look
ahead.

Among those who took a leading
part in the council was a young
bishop named Karol Wojtyła, who
later became Pope John Paul II.
When he was archbishop of Krakow,
Wojtyła referred to the council as
“the seminary of the Holy
Spirit,” adding that it is “historically
a thing of the past, but
spiritually still in being.” In
other words, this momentous
gathering of bishops from all
over the world was not just a gigantic
strategic planning meeting
for the future of the
Church, but was overshadowed
by the Holy Spirit and, in the
power of the Holy Spirit, continues
to shape the life of the
Church going forward.

BUILDING ON, NOT BREAKING WITH THE PAST
Many remember the years just after
the Second Vatican Council, but few
people actually read the council’s 16
documents. All too often, the importance
of the council was reduced to
one little phrase: “the changes.” One
change that everyone noticed was
that, beginning in 1969, Mass was no
longer regularly celebrated in Latin,
but rather in one’s native tongue.

The council is also associated with
less formality in the Church.
Catholics were told that, thanks to
the council, the Church would now
be more open to the world — that is,
to the spirit of the times. Priests were
to be regular guys; sisters donned lay
clothes; family life began to change,
often drastically; and strict doctrine
was often replaced by a variety of theological
opinions.

To be sure, the Second Vatican
Council did open the door to various
practical changes in the life of the
Church and called upon all Catholics
to engage the world more robustly.
But sometimes that was taken to
mean that the council constituted a
complete break with the past. Everything
prior was deemed by some to
be old and outdated. Everything
going forward was new and fresh and
of the Holy Spirit. In fact, a phrase
was coined to express this point of
view: “the spirit of the council.” We
were sometimes told to pay little attention
to what the Vatican II documents
actually said and instead be
more attentive to the council’s
“spirit.”

Actually, there is a better way for us
to appreciate the council. Pope Benedict
XVI calls it a “hermeneutic of
continuity.” What he means by this
phrase is that the best way to delve
into the authentic meaning of the
council is to see its connections with
Christ, the Scriptures and the whole
of the Church’s tradition.
The Second Vatican Council
doesn’t represent a break with
the past, but rather an organic
development flowing
from all that the Church has
believed and taught through
the centuries. You can see this
clearly if you consider how
many times the Second Vatican
Council refers to the
councils that preceded it, as
well as the teachings of popes
and doctors of the Church, ancient
liturgical texts, and masters of the
spiritual life.

A JOURNEY THROUGH HISTORY
In their wisdom, the fathers of the
Second Vatican Council understood
that the best way to respond to the
modern world was to understand and
treasure the heritage of the Church
more deeply. The council’s document
Gaudium et Spes makes it clear that
we are best equipped “to read the
signs of the times” by opening our-
selves to the fullness of the Church’s
tradition and to the person of Christ.

Let’s think about it this way: What
if we, as members of the Knights of
Columbus, suddenly stopped talking
about Father McGivney because he
lived a long time ago under very different
conditions? What if we said
that our principles of charity, unity,
fraternity and patriotism are old-fashioned
and should be traded in for
new principles? Or suppose we radically
reorganized the insurance program
so that it bore no resemblance
to Father McGivney’s original vision?
What would become of the “new and
improved” Knights of Columbus? Of
course, the Order has changed with
the times so as to meet new needs
and varying conditions — but always
those changes have been in continuity
with our deepest roots.

In a similar way, the Catholic
Church has been journeying through
history for some 2,000 years and,
obedient to the mandate of Christ,
has proclaimed the Gospel in every
epoch, culture, language and place.
To be sure, the Church has grown,
and her teaching, worship and discipline
have developed — but organically.
What is new is integrated with
what went before; we don’t get to “remake”
the Church’s teaching with
each passing generation.

This has nothing to do with being
“liberal” or “conservative.” In fact,
those terms, which are borrowed
from politics, have done a lot of damage
to the Church’s unity. St. Paul reminds
us there is “one Lord, one
faith, one baptism” (Eph 4:5). The
Second Vatican Council and the Catechism
of the Catholic Church have set
forth the teaching of the Church in a
way that is complete, reliable, lifegiving
and beautiful. In the Year of
Faith that lies ahead, let us open our
hearts to Christ and to all he teaches
us in and through our beloved
Church.♦